


S - E - X

by sarcastic_fi



Series: Every Ending Is A Begining [4]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alpha Tony Stark, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, F/M, Family Dynamics, Growing Up, M/M, Omega Steve Rogers, Pregnancy, Self-Discovery, Sex Education, Stillbirth
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-10
Updated: 2015-05-16
Packaged: 2018-03-29 22:21:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3912760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarcastic_fi/pseuds/sarcastic_fi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five Times Tony had A Question About Sex, and One Time He Had the Answer</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Howard

When Tony had been born Howard had been presented with a squalling, pink thing that cried all the time and refused to look him in the eyes. He knew that parents were meant to feel some kind of magical connection with their progeny, and while Maria cooed over the infant, Howard found it easier to retreat into his work than face the fact he didn't love the baby. Then, when Tony was seven months old and gazing up at him with large brown eyes that seemed to expect more, the word 'dada' bubbled out and kicked Howard in the heart. This was what Maria had felt after hours of painful labour, this was what inspired his work colleagues to whip out photographs of children at the drop of a hat. This was what loving your child felt like.

By the time Tony was eighteen months old he had developed somewhat of a catch phrase. “Mine, mama, mine.” He said it at parties and the socialites ate it up, their adorable baby boy was making his debut into the world with his statement of intent. Howard and Maria were in a phase of their marriage where they disagreed about almost everything, with Tony's gender being the only exception. They were both positive that their son was an Alpha, and to them the catch phrase that had lit their dinner table up in laughter had been proof enough. Of course they were both happy that their son was healthy, his secondary gender was immaterial to their love, but Howard found himself worrying about it. He recalled his rocky relationship with his own father, a passionate emotive man who couldn't stand Howard's strength of will or ambition and much preferred Howard's Beta brother Edward. He didn't want that kind of relationship with his son. Maria had her own concerns. She had seen the only Alpha children in high society grow up spoiled, self centred and entitled and didn't want that for her precious boy. Another child, she demanded, and Howard, who loved her with every atom of his being, agreed. 

Maria's second pregnancy wasn't like her first. She grew tired quickly, the baby inside of her was restless and kept her up all night. Her skin lost it's healthy glow and instead shone with a thin sheen of perspiration that made her look like she was constantly about to throw up. She had no time for Tony and a nanny was hired to make things easier for her. Tony, five years old at this point, hated the O-gendered nanny on site and quickly became a problem child.

Michael was at his wits end in less than a month and quit. Howard wanted to punish Tony for his insolent and embarrassing behaviour, but Maria cautioned him. Tony was hardly more than a toddler, his mind and body weren't fully developed and he needed help to understand on an intellectual level what was happening or he would have no recourse but to allow his emotions to reign over his actions. Howard kissed his wife; she always knew how to talk to him. 

In response to the situation, Howard took Tony aside for a conversation; Alpha-to-alpha. Tony had stared belligerently at his father and Howard wanted to glare his son into submission, to force him to obey. Instinctive reactions that his own father wouldn't hesitate in acting on. Howard took a calm breath and sipped at chamomile tea and let the emotion wash away from him. Then he took the time to carefully explain to Tony that Maria was having another baby, and how having a nanny to take care of Tony was a practical solution to the situation. Tony listened, nodded, and then asked the most unexpected question. Why couldn't Howard have the baby? 

Howard wasn't sure if he was more surprised that Tony didn't have a perfect understanding of gender or if it was because Tony's question indicated that he would prefer Howard to be incapacitated by pregnancy. 

“Tony,” Howard began, when he had formulated an answer, “you're an extremely bright child. This isn't a surprise to me, I knew you would be. I'm sure that even at such a young age you are capable of understanding the differences between Alphas, Betas, and O-gendered people. Can you tell me the differences?”

“Alphas are leaders in society not only because of physiology but also because society expects more from them and doors are opened in their favour more often than their Beta and O-gendered counterparts.”

“Yes. Can you tell me the role of an O-gendered person in society?”

“Traditionally considered feeble and less intelligent than other genders, O-gendered people are characterised by the pheromones they emit and the heat cycles they experience in order to conceive a child.”

“Yes. What does this tell you?”

“You aren't able to have a baby, only Mama can.”

“So your original question is invalid. Since we have established that you already knew this when you asked me the question, would you like to tell me what your reason was for asking it?”

“You're never around anyway, so it wouldn't matter if you had a baby.”

“I'm working, Tony. That's just as important as having a baby. Your mother is trying to extend our family. Isn't that something to be proud of?”

Tony glared, his eyes suspiciously wet. “Why does she need to extend our family? I'm her family. She doesn't love me.”

“That's an absurd conclusion, Tony. Parents are capable of loving an infinite amount of children without lessening the love they have for the others. You understand what I am saying?”

Tony nodded. He wasn't looking at his father anymore, and his little hands were bunched up in his lap. “I understand.”

“Good,” Howard was relieved that the conversation was coming to a close. His son was more than capable of understanding the process of creating a baby but he hadn't want the topic to come up. Maria would undoubtedly disapprove. “Now, remember that when you ask a question it must be to further your understanding of a subject, or else people will believe you are unintelligent or uninformed and neither is an acceptable state to be in as a Stark.”

Tony made no visible or verbal acknowledgement of Howard's words. “Tony,” Howard said, sharper than he intended. “Look at me. If I am talking to you I expect a response.”

Tony's head jerked up as if he was on strings. “Yes, dad,” he replied, and it was the first time that he had shortened the affectionate 'daddy' to 'dad'. Howard chose to take it as a sign that his son was growing up, but looking back on the moment with thirty years of bad blood between them he could more accurately identify it as the moment he lost the adoration of his only child. In it's place was a sense of respect that warred with resentment, a conflict of emotions that would define their entire relationship.

Three days after the conversation took place Tony was hired a new nanny, a Beta woman with whom he got along very well. In the mornings she woke him, helped him chose an outfit and took him into his mother's room for a kiss before he would be taken to the park or spend time with the private tutor they had hired when it had become obvious what a prodigy their son was. By the time Maria went into labour she was so weak that the doctor had little hope of her surviving. In the end nature chose and Maria pushed out a still born baby. Depression settled over her like a blanket placed over a cadaver at a morgue. Tony started school before she had recovered, and things were never the same between them. Just another regret for Howard to carry to his grave.


	2. Maria

Tony is fifteen when he 'pops his knot', as the old adage goes. In ancient times this would signify his final step into manhood, in modern society it was a fairly mundane event that only the most overbearing or traditional of parents would make a big deal of. While Howard was certainly ensconced in tradition, Maria fell more firmly into the 'overbearing' category. Perhaps she was trying to make up for her earlier emotional unavailability to Tony, but it was a thought that would only occur to him much later in life and long after he lost her to a fatal car accident. The motives hadn't mattered at the time, but the actions and decisions of Howard and Maria culminated in a large party the likes of which Tony would only grow up to emulate. On this particular occasion Tony managed to drink enough alcohol to keep him buzzing without doing anything as unbecoming as puking, and he ended the night with a threesome that took care of his virginity and lack of experience. In the morning the Alpha and Beta in question were hurried out of the bedroom by his horrified nanny. That was the last time he saw Elena.

“Where is she?” He demanded, storming into his mother's rooms hours later after sleeping off his hangover. He didn't care about the two people who had spent last night teaching him the pleasures of the flesh, he had expected, and hoped, for them to be gone by the time he woke. Elena, well there hadn't been a single day that he'd spent in his parents household since his mother had miscarried that Elena hadn't woken him and helped structure his day. Her absence was beyond suspicious.

“Who, darling?” Maria cooed at him.

“Elena. Where is my nanny?”

“Tony, my love, you're a man now. It isn't appropriate for you to continue to be coddled by a nanny. Miss Gomez has gone on a short holiday in Greece, and afterwards she will be starting a new role in someone else's household.”

“She just left? Without saying goodbye? No, I don't believe you!”

Maria wore the perfect mask of motherly compassion, but Tony didn't trust it. She was a consummate performer, even Howard couldn't tell the difference between her press face and her true one so Tony didn't hold out any personal hope. In any case he had no need for her compassion. What he needed was Elena. She was the only one in the whole household who knew him inside and out. She was his guiding star, and without her he was afraid to transition into adulthood. What if he turned out like his mother? Or worse, like Howard?

“Tony, I need you to come and sit down next to me,” his mother politely insisted.

He rolled his eyes. “I'm not a baby, just tell me.”

“That's the point, isn't it?” She said with a long drawn out sigh that made her voice sound dreamy, like she had taken too much Valium again. “You're a man now. You don't need a nanny, and it wouldn't be proper for you to have one. What she walked in on this morning-”

“Is this about the threesome? Come on, you threw me a Knot party and didn't want me to take advantage of the situation? That's not even well thought out reverse psychology.” 

She sent him a dopey smile. “I'm glad you are owning up to your actions, Tony. You make me so proud.”

“Don't be,” he injected flatly. “Elena raised me, not you and certainly not dad. You know, I never could understand why you tried to have another child. You never seemed to have time for the one you did have.”

Her breath caught at the cruelty of Tony's words and for a moment he was proud for making her upset, wanting to inflict the pain that he was feeling onto someone else. His mother was the perfect target, she had clearly sent Elena away and now Tony had lost the one person in his life who gave a damn about him. Then he saw tears well up in her eyes as her teeth, perfectly straight and white, bit down on her fleshy painted lip and he felt like a tool. It made him angrier, though, rather than sympathetic. He viewed it as her crying for that perfect child she had never had, the one that nature had taken from her, leaving her only with this small Alpha who looked so much like his father but without any of the characteristics that made her fall in love with Howard. A flawed copy.

“Anthony, your nanny is gone and no amount of unkind words will bring her back. I'm sory you're hurting, I'm always sorry for that, but your actions last night proved that you are ready to be responsible for yourself.”

“How in hell did you get that from me sleeping with two of the party guests?” He asked, incredulous. 

“You're an Alpha, Tony. They must have taught you what that means in school?”

“Well, why don't you pretend for just five seconds that teaching me what it means to be an Alpha instead of relying on someone you paid to do it for you?”

Tony would have sworn she paled when the comment hit home but her make up was so expertly applied that it was impossible to tell. Her eyes dried though, her tears disappearing to be replaced by a familiar hardness in her velvet brown gaze. She stood up, and came to stand next to him giving him the honour of looking into her eyes. She made no move to touch him, either respecting or merely accepting the distance between them as her due. Tony hated every agonising second. “Alphas have instincts, and as intelligent as you are you won't be able to reason your way out of them. It's a setting so deeply ingrained, one that kept Alphas from accidentally killing off Omegas in caveman times. To some extent you'll feel this pull towards Betas. Last night you embraced your sexuality, and while I do note that an Omega was absent from the after-party it doesn't make it any less an event which has no doubt cemented your sexual maturity.”

“Please! You're saying because I can knot I'm going to go all dewy eyed over every Omega I meet? No, not me. I'm going to be in control.”

“What makes you think that being in control and having these instincts aren't the same thing?”

“That's an oxymoron. You can't have control but also be susceptible to extraneous influences.”

“Perhaps you are still too young,” Maria conceded. “But I want you to remember this discussion. It's important for you to be able to recognise the difference between a response and a choice.”

“Oh I do,” he assured her. “It was your response to the situation to fire Elena, and her choice was to leave. I guess you can't trust anyone in this world. Thanks for the sex ed, Mom, but you're right, the school did a better job than you.”

He left her after that, much the way she had left him when he was four. Truthfully he hadn't understood the point she had been trying to make, or appreciate her attempts to blame his actions for Elena's departure. Later, many years later, Tony would think back on that conversation and it would click, but between that point and this one he would spend his time trying to prove to his mother how irresponsible he could be. Alpha tendencies were not going to rule over him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to all who have left kudos, bookmarked or commented on any part of this series! It means a lot!


End file.
